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Massive Oil Project Proposed in Fragile Arctic Reserve

ANCHORAGE, Alaska— The Trump administration today took a major step toward opening Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve — the largest roadless area in the United States — to new, industrial-scale oil development. The project threatens polar bears, caribou and migratory birds that live and travel through the ecologically rich reserve.

The Bureau of Land Management announced it would prepare a development plan and study for ConocoPhillips to build up to five new drill pads, 250 wells, roads and pipelines in the reserve at its Willow site

“This massive oil project threatens one of the wildest, most beautiful places in America,” said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It will scar the land, harm wildlife and worsen climate change. We can’t let Trump allow the oil industry to suck the life out of this amazing place.”